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41 in the Western Arctic Sea. tude instead of containing 60 geographical or nautical miles, contains but a little more than one-fourth part of that number ; that is 15| geographic or nearly 18 English miles. Hence the point on which the party from the Flecla landed is situated 8 8 nautical, or nearly 10 English miles west from the meridian of 110° of westlongitude from Greenwich. At the same point the magnetic variation was 253° 43' westerly, or 126° 17' easterly, and the dip of the needle 88° 30 7 ; that is, it stood nearly vertical. The temperature indicated by Fahren heit’s thermometer was as low as 25° (7° below freezing ;) but to our feelings the cold appeared much more intense. The wind becoming moderate, and the ice drawing a little off at Cape Hearne, the ships prepared to get under way : hut so tenacious was the ground that it took full two hours to raise the anchor. Turning that Cape at the distance of above a mile, in deep water, the land appeared to extend about south-west by west, and the channel between it and the main ice seemed tolera bly clear of broken floating ice. Hard as the wind had lately blown, the ice was not removed more, in general, than three miles or so off from the shore ; a proof that out at sea the main ice was compact and solid. As we advanced westward we found the wind follow the coast from the eastward, a fact which promised us a favourable run : but from the mast-head we had the mortification to observe the ice closing quite in to the land at the farthest extremity of our view. The ships were, therefore, made fast to what is termed by the Greenlanders a floe, that is a large field of ice usually of great thickness, in very deep water, about 80 fathoms, about four miles out from the shore. The weather was now so dark, for several hours before and after midnight, that we were obliged to make the sltips fast during that period; for the compasses were entirely useless, and the water was deep very close to the land. Still judging from what had been observed by those who were in the former voyage, September was expected to be the most proper month for prosecuting <>ur enterprize. In the morning of Tuesday the 7th, the ships made sail with an easy fair breeze ; for the ice seemed to be drawing off from the land ; hut on coming to the point we wished to turn no open ing appeared, so that we were obliged to make fast again to a floe. A boat was then sent on shore to sound round some large masses of ice which were aground near the land. The purpose of this was to know whether, in the event of the main ice closing in towards the shore, the ships might he protected by those grounded bodies of ice from the pressure. Sufficient depth of water was found within them, but not room for the ships to swing round : they were, therefore, kept in their situation at the Hoe. This Voyages, Pol. V. G